Reading - Why It Is Essential

What is playing on the iPod? Wait by Earshot



I am convinced that at the corporate headquarters of a certain book retailer (hint - they have a Seattle-based coffee shop within most of them), there has been a statue erected in my honor. Some people smoke, some drink, I read to the point where it should be clinically classified as an addiction. Last Saturday was declared do as little as possible day at my house, so we all did as we pleased. I sat on my bed with two new books, one I had not finished and I read myself silly.



It was fabulous!



I had a thought one afternoon while looking at the ridiculously large collection of video games my children have. What if these were books? I have always made sure my children have plenty to read. My children have the classics, they have the not-so-classics, they have lots of stuff in the middle. They have enough to stock the children's section of my local library - twice.



I started multiplying the video games. Each box times 50 bucks. When the video game boxes got to 25, I stopped counting, depressed. These games are going to be obselete soon, only to be replaced by the latest and greatest craze. Books last as long as the binding holds. I would wager that we have roughly three-thousand dollars in video games. What if they were books? What if that money had been used to invest in quality books that my children could pass down?



Instead, I have a collection of video games that quickly get discarded to the side as soon as the newness wears off or either of my children defeat the game. That sucks.



I have seen statistics about declining book sales. For the life of me, I can't figure it out. Why? There is so much untapped potential in the industry. Reading is the ultimate escape. When it is done right, you can transport yourself anywhere. You want to relax for an afternoon? Read a book. Guess what? Once you are done, you can read the book again and again. One purchase and it is yours.

We have a large screen TV and the purpose for that is still unknown to me. I rarely turn it on. The three males I live with, however, use it as a homing beacon to find their way back to the house. It is the same premise as a bug zapper in the middle of summer.

Okay, small confession here. My lone guilty television pleasure was the one hour a week from June to September that the new episode of True Blood was on. If you are a follower of the show, imagine LaFayette in all his hilarity on a big screen. Or Eric without his shirt. Still, that was my one hour a week. Undoubtedly, with ACC basketball season about to start - GO BLUE DEVILS - my TV will be turned on a little more at my hand. I also may want to watch my beloved Carolina Panthers possibly have one of the worst seasons in NFL history, depends on how much Kleenex I have around the house.

My boys are used to the sound of no TV in the house.

"What do we do, Mama?"

"Clean your room?"

After the eye rolling stops. "Seriously, what do we do?"

"Hey, here is a thought. Pick up a book, without a lot of pictures, and read it. From front to back. The whole thing."

This excites the 8-year-0ld. He loves to read. The 12-year-old looks scoffs for a bit before he goes to grab a book. Ten minutes later...

"I'm done!"

"No you are not!"

"What? You wanted me to read the whole thing?"

"Uh, yeah. That was kind of the point of the instructions."

Then, as if the gates of Heaven opened up and an angel dropped a gift to me, the 12-year-old and I happened upon the Manga section in the earlier referred to book store. The boy actually gasped. It was like when my friend Amanda sees something pink on sale, a look of carnal victory appeared in his eyes.

"What do you think?"

"It's great! How many can I get?"

This was about a month ago. Naruto is his current series of choice, which also happens to be the single most popular Manga in the whole industry. That means finding the next edition can be a little dicey sometimes. Currently, he is on #28 and there are 46 that have been published. Do I care that it is a comic book or that it is published from back to front? Not in the least. He is reading.

Do I care that he may not like me very much right now because I keep the TV turned off? Do I care that he rolls his eyes at me because I shove books at him instead of letting him play with his Wii? Yes, I do. It bothers me a little bit. However, I am not raising a friend, I am raising a child. If it does not like me for things I do right now but respects me in the future for the decisions I have made for him, it will all be worth it.


Now I am going back to my room to check my bookshelf for something to read. It is probably going to be something scary since Halloween is tomorrow. Still, it is better than sitting in front of the TV letting my brain rot. Until next time!

My Books

What is playing on the iPod? Collision Course, Jay-Z and Linkin Park

I completed a novel. From the concept, character development, ever-developing plot lines, I did it. This gets a self pat on the back and a big whew complete with dramatic forehead sweep. I have written since elementary school, won contests and have heard people say for years that I should write a book.

So I did. In the process of doing so, I fell deeply in love with Natalie and Rob. No matter if I become a juggernaut such as Nicholas Sparks or Laurell K. Hamilton and have dozens of my books published, Natalie and Rob will always be the two characters I love the most.

For months (which my family will gladly attest to), I immersed myself in the process of creating Natalie's world. The book started out as thoughts on a computer screen. I was pissed at lots of things, most notably the number of people in the US waiting on organ transplants. Last October, the official count on the UNOS website reached 100,000 for the first time. I stewed on that for a few days and furiously pounded thoughts out. I stared at what I had written and the random thoughts took shape and I heard a voice telling me that the thoughts needed direction and she was willing to give it to me.

I sat down and gave Natalie, the voice, freedom over the thoughts and let her rearrange them and tell her story. Unfortunately, I decided to infuse some personal details into Natalie's life to relate the details that first came out on the screen. Therefore, Natalie has primary sclerosing cholangitis which is a progressive, degenerative liver disease which leaves the bile ducts too scarred up or hardened to allow bile to pass through. This is the reason I was on the UNOS website. I have PSC and periodically, I check the stats because someday down the road, I will need a liver transplant. My liver doc stands firm in his belief that by the time I need one, the medical community will have developed effective treatment for PSC, perhaps in the form of stem cell treatment, so I am crossing my fingers that he is right.

And since it is MY BLOG, I will shamelessly take this opportunity to promote the collective genius of physicians in the gastroenterology/transplant departments at Duke University Medical Center - GO BLUE DEVILS.

Natalie's story developed, her voice got louder and the writing process got emotional. I gave her trials, tribulations and challenges that would have broke lesser women. Not Natalie. My girl donned her cape and leaped tall buildings with a single bound.

Somewhere in the process of exploring Natalie's world, another voice appeared. This guy slowly showed himself. He was demanding that his story be included with Natalie's. He made it clear that he cared for her and if I would let him in, he would grow to love her. How could I refuse? So, Rob was born.

Now, a year after Natalie made her way into my world, I am two-thirds of the way though the actual construction of Rebecca's story. Rebecca has given me more complications than I could have contemplated. She brings issues that would make Freud drool. She is as complex as a good wine and is a challenge to write. That is why I keep going. I love a challenge. Getting through to the bottom of her story is haunting my dreams and most conscious thoughts.

I am not just telling Rebecca's story, I am telling Christian and Jared's as well. Each could carry their own story with no problem but they are so closely involved, their story becomes one.

For a couple of hours Monday through Friday, I get to explore their worlds. I weave their stories, hoping that I do them justice. By Christmas, I will be done with not only the writing but the process of self-editing. I hope to have a couple of copies ready for the group of people who serve as my feedback crew. Rebecca's story will be ready to query by in the next few months.

This means that not only do I have to finish the book but I have to perfect the art of the query letter, making me break out in a cold sweat. Imagine taking months, if not years, of your work and sum that up for a respected industry professional in less than a few paragraphs. I not only have to make my work shine, I have to work a little bit of kiss ass in there as well. This is not too hard because I only query the agents I have researched and want pretty bad, so a little obligatory kissing ass is not beyond me.

I have so much more to blog on, so please feel free to come back and check later. Thanks for letting me share a bit with you.